BYD Buoyant; Renault Wobbles; Tencent to Up Game

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Closer Collaboration Between Tesla and BYD?

Having overtaken Tesla [TSLA] as the top electric vehicle (EV) maker by sales, China’s BYD [BYDDY] said on Monday it expects net profit for 2023 to rise by up to 86.5% year-over-year. Yunfei Li, General Manager of Branding and Public Relations, told reporters that BYD and Tesla should work together: “It’s not that we must surpass them or they must surpass us. Instead… we need to think about how to increase the new energy vehicle ‘cake’”.

Renault Share Price: Up, Then Back Down

After a brief spike, Renault [RNO:PA] shares reversed gains on Tuesday, as investors pondered the ramifications of the automaker’s decision, announced on Monday, to ditch plans for an IPO of EV wing Ampere. Renault said it had enough cash to fund the development of Ampere until it breaks even in 2025. Jefferies analysts highlighted that the decision “should be positive for current shareholders”, in a note seen by Reuters.

Japan’s Big Push on Optical Technology

The Industry Ministry is to offer some ¥45.2bn in subsidies to develop optical technology, which will in turn serve to boost the semiconductor sector in the country. Among the participating companies are SK Hynix [000660:KS], NEC [6701:T] and Kioxia in consultation with Intel [INTC]. Japan's Industry Minister Ken Saito told reporters he hoped the technology would be “a future game changer”.

CEO: Tencent Needs to Up Game

At Tencent’s [TCEHY] annual meeting on Monday, CEO and co-founder Pony Ma said the tech giant’s gaming business is facing stiff competition: “We have found ourselves at a loss, as our competitors continue to produce new products, leaving us feeling [we have] achieved nothing,” Ma said, as reported by Reuters. However, he underscored the company is catching up when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI).

New AR Unicorn

Backed by Chinese tech titan Alibaba [BABA], augmented reality (AR) glasses company Xreal announced on Monday that it had received $60m in new funding, taking its valuation beyond $1bn and making it a ‘unicorn’ — the first in the space. Xreal’s latest model, the Air 2 Ultra, will ship in March; it is up for pre-order at $699, significantly less than the $3,500 Apple [AAPL] is charging for its Vision Pro.